Wheel of Time’s Daughter of the Night and Lanfear/Selene issue, explained

Love hurts — just ask The Wheel of Time protagonist Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski). In season 1 of the Prime Video fantasy series, Rand effectively walked out on his childhood crush, Egwene al’Vere (Madeleine Madden), after finally owning up to his destiny as the prophesized world savior/destroyer, the Dragon Reborn. The former sheep herder’s love life only gets worse in season 2, after he seeks solace in a rebound fling with Selene (Natasha O’Keeffe): an entrancing innkeeper who shows her true — and decidedly terrifying — colors in season 2’s fourth episode, “Daughter of the Night.”

[Ed. note: This post contains spoilers for The Wheel of Time season 2, episode 4.]

Image: Prime Video

Yes, it turns out that “Selene” is really Lanfear, one of the Dark One’s most powerful servants. It’s a twist that viewers familiar with Robert Jordan’s original Wheel of Time novels were waiting for, but poor Rand exits “Daughter of the Night” looking suitably flummoxed. Our hero likely isn’t the only one a little confused by the big reveal either, as episode 4 doesn’t devote much screen time to Lanfear’s backstory or wider role within The Wheel of Time’s overarching narrative.

That’s why we’ve pulled together this handy guide to all things Lanfear. This guide will tell you everything about the Daughter of the Night. It includes who she is and how she fits into the Lanfear universe. The Wheel of Time lore, and where her story is headed in season 2’s remaining episodes.

Why is Lanfear important in The Wheel of Time and who is Lanfear?

Image: Prime Video

Lanfear’s original name was Mierin Eronaile. This Aes-Sedai lived thousands of years ago during the Age of Legends. The Wheel of Time’s Third Age setting). Back then, she was a university researcher who (as dialogue scattered through season 2 implies) dated that era’s Dragon, Lews Therin Telamon, until he broke things off. Lanfear was never over Lews’s rejection, but she did transfer her obsession with him (as in the Prime Video version) to Rand, his successor as Dragon.

Lanfear’s claim to fame goes beyond being the Dragon’s ex-girlfriend, though. She also led the research which unwittingly released the Dark One onto the world. And as an encore she publicly pledged her allegiance to this demonic entity. This is when she adopted the “Lanfear” name, which translates to “Daughter of the Night” in The Wheel of Time’s Old Tongue dialect. Thanks to her considerable smarts and strength in the One Power, Lanfear quickly found herself anointed one of the “Chosen” — the Dark One’s most favored (and most evil) followers, called the “Forsaken” by everyone else.

The Wheel of Time season 2 aligns with (or doesn’t otherwise contradict) all the above aspects of Lanfear’s portrayal in Jordan’s books. It also faithfully recreates the author’s description of Lanfear’s legendary beauty, which hair and makeup supervisor Davina Lamont remarked upon during Polygon’s recent visit to the Wheel of Time set, talking through the process she went through with O’Keeffe and showrunner Rafe Judkins to find the perfect look.

“[O’Keeffe is]I was so happy to finally be able put into words what an amazing actor she is and how beautiful she is as a person. [Lanfear’s look] together was easy,” Lamont says. “And as much as dark, dark hair [can be wrong] — and I was against going too, too dark with the black [wig] and then Rafe would say, ‘No, no, no, we want to go black!’ And I was like, ‘Are you sure?’ But with the costume and everything and her porcelain skin, it looks absolutely amazing.”

Lanfear is still young and active in the Third Age.

Image: Prime Video

Lanfear’s striking good looks in The Wheel of Time’s season 2 are even more remarkable when you remember she was breaking hearts millennia before Rand was even born. What’s the deal? You can quite literally chalk up the Forsaken’s youthful appearance to beauty sleep. In both the books and the Prime Video series, Lews Therin and his allies managed to re-seal the Dark One’s prison, with the Forsaken (including Lanfear) trapped alongside their master. Lanfear was forced to spend a considerable amount of time in prison. The Longest Term Affective Behavior Time in dreamless ageless stasis before finally breaking out to wreck havoc The Wheel of Time’s Third Age setting.

Robert Jordan doesn’t depict the moment Lanfear emerges from her cosmic jail cell in The Great Hunt — the novel upon which The Wheel of Time’s second season is largely based. However, “Daughter of the Night” opens with a flashback to this very event. It’s a markedly more tangible affair than Jordan’s abstract approach to this aspect of the canon, and just as notably, makes the Forsakens’ de facto leader, Ishamael (Fares Fares), an active participant in the proceedings.

Executive producer Mike Weber addressed Ishamael’s hands-on role in Lanfear’s escape during Polygon’s set visit, framing this expansion on established continuity as a way of giving The Wheel of Time A main villain worthy of season 2. “Just to see your antagonist personified is much more effective and dramatic,” Weber explains. “You can’t just talk about ‘The Dark One is coming’ forever. It’s important to watch it. It is a must-see. [Fares]It’s important to be like that. For audiences, for a fantasy series, that’s much more effective.”

Jordan also doesn’t mention anything about Lanfear’s return being an eerie, blood-soaked affair, but that’s certainly what “Daughter of the Night” delivers. It’s a dramatic scene that plays to TV’s strength as a visual medium — and capturing it on film took its toll on several members of The Wheel of Time’s cast and crew.

“That was a big day in the caves,” Lamont recalls. “And when we were shooting that, it was like, Wait a moment: What do you want? [O’Keeffe]To be completely covered in blood from head to foot?We literally had to pour it on. We shot for six hours, since it was a full day. It was an amazing day. […] and they wanted to have this super-long hair as well, to kind of hit the ground, and so for us also to have time to find the length of hair was painful.”

As she laughs: “It was painful, but we did it!”

What books feature Rand and Lanfear?

Image: Prime Video

Following her liberation (and in the show’s case, a very long bath), both the book and screen versions of Lanfear immediately set their sights on hooking up with Rand. The success of these two versions of the Daughter of the Night is what makes them different. The Great Hunt doesn’t include any passages where “Selene” and Rand get it on, whereas The Wheel of Time Intimate moments between the two are given a significant amount of screentime in season 2.

But then, Rand and Lanfear aren’t really a couple in Jordan’s novel — although he is very clearly attracted to her, and they do spend plenty of time together. Unlike in the Prime Video adaptation, Rand’s encounters with “Selene” aren’t limited solely to Cairhien, either, nor is it where they meet. They meet in an alternative reality, which is the seed of a future story. Wheel of Time The series has yet to explore the multiverse.

According to Thomas Napper, director of season 2’s first two episodes, the decision to omit Rand and Lanfear’s extra-dimensional jaunt had less to do with steering clear of pop culture’s current multiverse fixation and more about keeping the show’s sprawling source material digestible for audiences.

“I love that sequence in The Great HuntWhere they meet. […] Wheel of Time This is a very special place because So, if you want to know more about how to get started with your own business or organization, please contact us. expansive,” Napper says. “It takes you not only to multiverses, to time travel, to dreamwalking, to collective consciousness in dreams and Eastern ideas and Eastern philosophy. There are so many different philosophical and spiritual influences in this book. It includes Hinduism and Buddhism as well as Sufism. It goes as far as your imagination can take you […]There are many worlds to choose from and we have to make choices in real life about which one to go into. [in the show].”

What is the fate of Lanfear from Wheel of Time (season 2) books?

Of course, there’s theoretically still room for Rand and Lanfear to visit another world in The Wheel of Time season 2’s four remaining episodes; however, this doesn’t seem likely. Not only is Rand now wise to “Selene” and her act, but Lanfear is seriously wounded by Moiraine (Rosamund Pike) in episode 4’s closing moments, seemingly scuttling any immediate travel plans.

Even powerful channelers can be injured by such incidents in the novels. Subsequent comments by Moiraine — not to mention episode 4’s final shot of Lanfear regaining consciousness — indicate the same logic doesn’t apply to the Forsaken in the series. That said, the Dark One resurrects several of his followers in Jordan’s later novels, so that could be what’s happening here (although the circumstances involved are markedly different).

It doesn’t matter exactly What is the best way to learn about? Lanfear survives her brush with death, you shouldn’t expect her to give up on Rand so easily. The Daughter of the Night pursues Rand (and the dream of ruling the world by his side) until Jordan’s fifth book, Fires of HeavenIt is therefore likely that her on-screen counterpart will continue to attempt to lure the Dragon Reborn up until at least the end of Season 2. And that means plenty of trouble on the horizon — not just for Rand, but for anyone close to him as well.